Canberra was the centrepiece of Australia Day celebrations in Sydney
on 26 January 2015. In March 2015, the ship was designated the
flagship of the RAN.

In February 2016, the ship was deployed from Fleet Base East
initially to Brisbane in Queensland where it loaded a Royal
Australian Army Engineer squadron and equipment including beach
landing capabilities, water purification equipment and other
essential engineering stores and then it sailed to Fiji on its first
humanitarian mission after a tropical cyclone hit the country on
February 20. The LHD was carrying 50 tonnes of humanitarian supplies
including food, water, and medical equipment as well as more than
850 personnel from the Australian Defence Force. Embarked with the
ship were three MRH-90 helicopters to support Australian operations.
The Canberra joined other ADF assets to help with relief efforts.

Canberra formed part of the Australian force which participated in
the RIMPAC 2016 exercise off Hawaii during mid-2016. During this
deployment she successfully completed flight trials with United
States military Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion and Bell Boeing V-22
Osprey aircraft.